Page:The religion of Plutarch, a pagan creed of apostolic times; an essay (IA religionofplutar00oakeiala).pdf/202

 attaches the Dæmon to the soul is, as it were, a restraint upon the irrational part thereof. When Reason pulls the chain it gives rise to repentance for the sins which the soul has committed under the influence of passion, shame for illicit and immoderate indulgences, and finally produces a tendency to submit in quiet patience to the better influence of the Dæmon. The condition of absolute submission does not come all at once, but those who have been obedient to their Dæmon from the very beginning constitute the class of prophets and god-inspired men." The Dæmons have here assigned to them a protective care of humanity; they assist the souls who struggle after goodness, and desert those who refuse to obey their injunctions. A few good men, specially honoured by the deity, may themselves become Dæmons, and act as guardian angels to others. Plutarch repeats this view more systematically elsewhere, giving it a more general application. "It is maintained by some that just as water is perceived to be produced from earth, from water, air, and from air, fire, in a constantly ascending process, so also the better souls undergo a transformation from men to heroes, from heroes to dæmons, and from dæmons, some few souls, being purified through prolonged practice of virtue, are brought to a participation in the divine nature itself." *